Romania Put Its Intelligence Services under a Unified Command

Romania caught up with the American model on Friday and put its intelligence service under a unified command, since rivalries among the various services was not confined to the U.S. soil alone.

The Supreme Council for the Defense of the Country sSCDCt, headed by President Traian Basescu, decided to set up a National Intelligence Community sNCIt working under its command.

The NCI will coordinate the espionage, counter-intelligence, and military intelligence services, stated a press-release from the presidential office.

The chain of command will be the SCDC at the top, leading the NCI, in its turn led by a coordination committee on which will serve the heads of the espionage- and counter-intelligence services, the ministers of foreign affairs, of interior, of defense and of justice, and the national security advisers for the president and for the PM, respectively.

"The daily work of the NCI will be led by Gen. Constantin Degeratu, a state councilor in the Presidency’s Department for National Security," stated Basescu for a television station Friday night. He showed that he and PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu get a summary of eight to nine most important pieces of information in the morning, which are last updated at 2 a.m. that day.

A new update of intelligence information takes place at 10 a.m., when specialists gather for their analysis, the president showed.

However, the top position at the helm of the NCI was not yet filled in.

The person, with the rank of presidential adviser, will be a politician, not a professional, Basescu said.

The last such presidential adviser was Vasile Blaga, who held the position for only a few days, moving then to lead the Ministry of Administration and Interior Affairs.

The next national security presidential adviser, and hence coordinator of the newly formed NCI, is alleged to be Claudiu Saftoiu, currently presidential adviser for internal affairs.

The presidential advisor for national security issues will coordinate the work of NCI and the operative structure, comprising the deputy-heads of the espionage, counter-intelligence and military intelligence services and the PM’s adviser on national security issues.

Also on Friday the SCDC decided to release from their office the deputy directors of the espionage service: Marcel Alexandru, Niculae Goia, Dan Chiriac and Constantin Rotaru.

The new structure of the service provides only two such positions, which had been filled by Gen. Vasile Sarca and Gen. Silviu Predoiu.

Sarca was head of the Human Resources Department and worked with the British for reforming the service, while Predoiu was the head of the Internal Affairs Unit inside the espionage service.

The press-release states that Basescu "greatly appreciated the work of the four former deputy-directors." They have all been awarded the Order the Romania Star.

Though changes at the helm of the other intelligence services had been rumored, they did not occur following the SCDC session on Friday.